The other day I wrote a post about being cynical in my middle age, positing that perhaps it was because of the polarization we’re feeling in politics and the sense that things aren’t working as they should. I just want things to be fixed. I received a thoughtful comment from a reader that indicated that people on both sides of the political spectrum believe they have the answers to fix what’s going wrong in America.…
Starting with my very first personal blog, Filter & Splice (which still exists on Blogger in colors that will make your eyes bleed), I coined a term to describe the mythical meshing of creative people: Frankensteining the Talent Pool (FtTP). I originally described what this term meant to me waaaaaay back in 2006 with this post. During my time with Filter & Splice, I wrote a number of posts with my ideas for Frankensteining the…
I just read the article “The Urban Death Project: Designing a Better Way to Die” and feel it’s so important as a concept that I had to share it here. The article discusses the master’s thesis of Katrina Spade, who wants to provide Americans with an alternative to being buried in a vault with their veins filled with embalming fluid. Spade’s alternative also doesn’t involve being burned down to ash. Instead, she would like to…
I have had occasion recently to be put on hold. Who doesn’t in this day of telephone menus, answering services, and spotty customer service? I hate being on hold. In order to avoid being put on hold, I will do whatever I can to figure out answers prior to picking up a phone. Usually, this involves extensive search on an organization’s website. If I can’t find answers, I begrudgingly dial a number, making sure I…
I just finished reading “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War” by Max Brooks. The book was not on my list for the Year of Creative Reading, but I chose it in order to see how the author presented his story as oral histories. Working in the history field, one of our primary sources of information is oral history, so it was interesting to see how someone adapted this form to fiction.…